Marine Pilots at Port Castries, Saint Lucia, are now using a new electronic touch screen system, developed for them by Ideal Business Services Ltd, to track vessels at sea and to access cargo and cruise berthing logistics prior to and after vessel arrival and departure.
As with other similar solutions, Ideal developed the new software solution using mv.NET from BlueFinity International.

Port Castries is managed by the Saint Lucia Air And Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA), which is also responsible for running the island's other principal seaport at Vieux Fort, and the George FL Charles and Hewanorra International Airports, as well as the smaller points of entry: Soufriere, Marigot and Rodney Bay Marina. The new, web-based, electronic touch screen system at Port Castries replaces the manual recording of vessel information.
It provides a single access point where the marine staff can also access AIS (Automated Identification System) live vessel tracking, and a vessel berth plan via a 46" touch screen computer.

View a case study presentation given by Paul Parkinson, Ideal Business Services

Main benefits of the new system include time saving; instant and accurate vessel updates from the Operations Department and an instant two-way means of communication between Operations to Marine and Marine to Operations.

The bespoke Marine Pilots System implemented for SLASPA is another computer software solution from Ideal Business Services Ltd, who have over 25 years experience as an international developer of software solutions for shipping ports, container storage & repair depots, airports, warehousing, cold storage and related logistics industries, as well as bespoke stock control software solutions developed to each client's requirements.

BlueFinity International, part of the Mpower1 group of companies, supplies leading-edge software development tools and consultancy services to the MultiValue database and Microsoft developer communities. Its flagship product - mv.NET - is a comprehensive solution for developers wishing to access MultiValue databases from within Microsoft's .NET environment.